Italy's farmworker-ghetto program is on track to lose most of its money in Puglia while the camps where gangmasters recruit stay standing, state auditors found.
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The Puglia section of Italy's Corte dei conti (audit court), in a February 2026 review, examined the EU recovery-fund (PNRR) investment meant to clear informal farmworker settlements and fight labor exploitation. Of more than EUR 114 million assigned to Puglian towns, about 9% (EUR 11.7 million) funds projects without serious problems, about 80% (EUR 90.3 million, in Cerignola, Manfredonia and San Severo) was at risk of loss, and 11% (EUR 12.1 million) had been renounced by the recipients. The court singled out Manfredonia, which got over EUR 53 million for the Borgo Mezzanone area, where planned beds were cut from 4,000 to 1,250 and the project remained at a preliminary stage. A May 2026 follow-up warned of a concrete, imminent risk of revocation for Manfredonia and a near-certain loss for San Severo. Nationally the scheme had EUR 200 million; the Corte dei conti earlier criticized the limited capacity shown in seeking solutions, and in September 2026 the government's commissioner toured the Foggia-area settlements.
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